The shot heard round Geekdom, how Zack Snyder may ruin Batman

Comic book and movie fan’s across the world were extremely excited about the first trailer for Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder’s Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice due out in March 2016. While there was a lot to be excited about from the trailer in the form of the Superman God dynamic. The version of Batman that Zack Snyder has planned for main stream audiences at least initially seems a bit disturbing, and it has nothing to do with Batfleck. Rather with the fact that it appear’s Snyder’s version of the Caped Crusader will be prone to using the any means necessary model to combat his enemies, and yes that does include fire arms (plural). Due to the death of his parents at the hands of a firearm Bruce Wayne has always been one to shy away from guns across all mediums. However as you can see in the multiple shots below Snyder’s vision of the character is more in line with Tim Burton’s than it is anything ever written at DC.

While it may be a bit of reaching above we have a picture of Batman carrying what looks like some type of heavy artillery cannon. Yes this could be some sort of technological weapon, but elements that unfold later in the trailer make that seem highly unlikely.

Above you have probably the most ominous shot in the trailer one Batman clearly equipped with a sniper rifle. Many perceived this to initially to be the top of the platform that Batman is standing on, but after further analysis of the shot you can clearly see the scope and long barrel of the that would indicate he is indeed holding a sniper rifle. Hardcore Batman fan’s can only hope those are just Kryptonite laced bullet’s in the barrel or its being used to shoot a grappling hook ala The Dark Knight Returns.

The most telling shot relating to this topic in the trailer comes when the Batwing unleashes loads of ammunition on what looks like a couple of henchmen. Yes, Christopher Nolan’s version of the Batwing in The Dark Knight Rises did use guns, but never to the point of blatant death as we see here. After having watched the trailer several times there is no way one could conclude logically that the henchmen seen here live.

Perhaps it would have been best for any true fan of the Batman mythos to give up any and all hope of this version of Batman when at the end of the trailer Batman ask’s Superman does he bleed? And then promises he will. These type of motivations of the character regardless of the interpretation are the complete anthesis of the Batman character. While I have no problem with a character using firearms, and respect the artistic freedom that Writers and or Directors have to exercise when breathing new life into established characters there still needs to be some level of respect paid to the character’s core beliefs. One of Batman’s happens to be that he is anti-gun in all major incarnations of the character. In the Nolan trilogy the character was written as clearly to utter the words” no guns, no killing”, and any reasonable comic writer at DC knows they would endanger the sales of their book if Batman even picked up a pistol.

The saddest part of all this, is the source material that Zack Snyder seems to be pulling the majority of his story from: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns has arguably the most famous Batman anti-gun panel of all time (Seen left). A panel that many Batman fan’s posted around the internet after the Aurora Colorado theater shooting at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, to remind the public the kind of integrity that the character stood for regrading firearms. I understand that Batman originally carried a gun in Detective Comics and came in guns a blazing to ACE chemicals in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, however the zeitgeist around character has changed so much that what Snyder appears to be doing is inexcusable.

While so many thing’s could change or be perceived completely different in context come March 25th 2016 when Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is released, it feels like at this point the biggest threat to Batman won’t be Superman, but rather the integrity of his character.

Be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you thought of Batman’s use of firearms in the trailer!

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I grew up in North Carolina, where my love for the Spiderman and Batman the Animated Series on Fox Kids fueled my journey of Geekdom. In January 2013 I started my own site: thepicreview.com and for over two years hosted my own podcast the Confirmed Epic Podcast. Since 2016 the podcast continues on the gww radio network. As of early 2015 I joined the geeks with wives crew for a greater opportunity to work with similar people who let the passion for the properties they love drive them, and a chance to interact with a world wide fan base of fellow geeks.
I am a happily Married Geek, as of November 2014 to my Wife Abby who only shares my geek passions when it comes to Superman, Wonder Woman,the Flash, as well as Captain America. We live just outside of Charlotte, NC with our three dogs: a Golden Doodle: Sadie, our Jackabee: Penney, and our Beagle: Cookie. In April of 2018 we were blessed with our first child: Harper Jane Bell, who we named after Harper Row from Scott Snyder's Batman run.
When I’m not covering or taking part in geek culture as The Reel Brad Bell my secret Identity is Mr. Bell a High School U.S History Teacher and AP Gov. Teacher. My Wife is an ICU/PICC/Charge Nurse. The only thing that comes close for my love of Superhero’s and Star Wars is my love for the Carolina Panthers! #KeepPounding
Much to my Wife’s chagrin I am a self proclaimed poster addict and add a couple of Mondo Posters to my collection a year. My current favorite piece prints are my Tyler Stout: Avengers.
As far as my geek Cred, I have met both Stan Lee and George RR Martin so Nuff Said!
My geek love is mainly focused on Comics, TV, and Film although I do own an Xbox One X (gamertag: thereelbradbell). My favorite comic right now is Dan Slott's Spider-Man Renew Your Vows. My favorite movie of all time is The Dark Knight, and my love for the genius that is Christopher Nolan is unprecedented.
My top 5 Favorite Geek Properties of all-time are: Batman, Spiderman, Star Wars, TMNT, and Power Rangers it’s been this way for as long as I can remember and is till the same in adulthood.
Twitter: @thereelbradbell
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12 comments

I’m honestly ok with this. I’ll reserve judgement until I see the film. Mostly, I’m ready for a new take on Batman. And the fact that he does not kill people, to me, seems at odds with the darkness within Bruce Wayne.

@bensuri:disqus Had we not seen the complete opposite of how Superman should react in Man of Steel I would expect that Sniper looking Rifle to be a grappling gun, but knowing Zack Snyder I bet that’s not the case!

@JoeGWW:disqus I respect different versions of characters across mediums, you can’t violate the characters core beliefs. Yes he is a darker character, but if he snipes anyone including Superman that just deviates to much for the character for me!

Regarding the Sniper Rifle I think you may have answered your own question. We have examples from DKR (which this film seems to be drawing some inspiration from) of Batman using a sniper rifle to fire a grappling hook. There could also be Kryptonite bullets, tranquilizer darts, a tracking beacon, or some other form of projectile. And why does everyone think that the flying machine shooting bullets is the Batwing when the next scene in the trailer shows what is clearly the Batmobile driving through flames. Couldn’t this simply be a drone or low flying aircraft of some kind? We see plenty of armored troops in the trailer so it makes sense that there would be more vehicles around. I mean, wouldn’t it make sense that in a world that fears Superman that law enforcement would have access to bigger and more powerful patrol weapons?

And Batman asking Superman if he bleeds? Batman asking a nearly invincible alien if he might bleed? Batman hasn’t been a killer since his early years but when has he ever been nice? Batman has no problem making someone bleed and breaking a few bones. If he perceives that Superman is a threat to the world he’s darn sure going to try and stop him.

I don’t know. I see a lot of the complaints about this trailer as trying to drum up controversy where it doesn’t exist (which seems par for the course with anything involving superheroes these days) and I can’t imagine that Warner, DC, or even Snyder would want to turn Batman into a cold blooded killer. Everyone keeps going back to Superman killing Zod in Man of Steel as proof of these films being “dark and gritty”. In the comics Superman has killed plenty of powerful, extraterrestrial beings. What was he going to do with Zod? Lock him up? Zod was actively trying to kill more people. marvel’s films kill plenty of bad guys with no qualms but Superman kills one nigh-invincible genocidal dictator and he gets labeled as being morally flawed? I get that the mass destruction from their fight was overblown and surely resulted in a number of deaths but that’s pretty much every superhero movie out there. That’s a problem with big budget movies and the superhero genre.

I feel like its hard to make a final judgement call on this movie solely based on the first real trailer we have seen. Yes Batman does not use guns in most situations and incarnations but all we are seeing here are small flashes of a much bigger picture and story. Does that look like a sniper? Yes! that does not necessarily mean that is Batman’s or that he used it. In the end once the credit role we can make our final judgement of the movie and how each character was played out but until then i see no reason to be up in arms! Great article @thereelbradbell:disqus!